Support for Indie Authors discussion

Sumant wrote: "Seriously.. !!! I thought it would be good to offer free books to those who would not like to use their resources on books.

Maybe you think that this is trying to hawk a book ... Which is already selling since last many months.

Every one has an opinion..!! :-)

Perhaps you should see these posts & see what inspires us."

If you would take a moment to actually read over the rules of our community, you'd find out that this is not the place to offer your books, free or otherwise.

It is hawking your book, whether it is free or not and it is against our rules.

It is not an opinion. You are offering books in a community where this is forbidden. I have seen you spamming other communities with similar posts. Please stop.

And I am deleting this post as well, due to the link. I'm not interested in what inspires you. That doesn't make you above the rules.

Um...Hi there.

This is not an attempt to enter the current 'You Tell Us Short Story Contest' ...But an attempt to find out the winners of the previous contest, which was hosted towards the end of March. Did you guys receive my contest entry? If so, did I win? Was I notified And if I did win, why wasn't I notified? If I didn't win, who did? And why wasn't I notified of my participation? Please let me know. And if I was notified, can you forward a copy of the e-mail to me? It might have been deleted by my e-mail spam/junk filter. Thanks in advance!

I responded to your email Ross. Please feel free to direct message me if you still haven't received it.

Thank you,
Ann

I've been putting together a youtube channel for indie authors... is it self-promotion to link the videos? I mean, I know that is self-promotion, but the code of conduct specifically focuses on not self-promoting books. My youtube videos are meant to be a help to other indie authors. TIA!

Links are not allowed for any purpose, whether they're promotional or not.

J. wrote: "I've been putting together a youtube channel for indie authors... is it self-promotion to link the videos? I mean, I know that is self-promotion, but the code of conduct specifically focuses on not..."

Self-promotion is self-promotion. The very first line in that rule is, "No self promotion of any kind." It's hard to get around that. Yes, some of the examples I added were about books, because that's the most common kind of self-promotion we deal with. But, notice the words "of any kind". That includes all kinds of self-promotion, even if you are self-promoting a YouTube channel and you claim it is for the benefit of other authors. It is still your channel and you are still promoting it. You may have missed the line that says, " Links to personal websites, blogs, signatures listing your books or services, social media, emails, other Goodreads groups, or anything else that could be considered self-promotion is forbidden." Your YouTube channel would be a part of "anything else that could be considered self-promotion".

And as Tomas pointed out, we don't allow links of any kind.

Could y'all delete my "Cover Help - Magical Realism" Topic please? Thanks!

Sean wrote: "Could y'all delete my "Cover Help - Magical Realism" Topic please? Thanks!"

Done. You're welcome.

Dwayne wrote: "Sean wrote: "Could y'all delete my "Cover Help - Magical Realism" Topic please? Thanks!"

Done. You're welcome."

Much appreciated, Dwayne.

Henry wrote: "Does your Facebook site help sales ?
Does your website help sales ?
(didn't know where else t..."

I would suggest posting this where you're going to get more responses from the group, not just the moderators. There's only a couple of us that are very active right now. I don't advertise on Facebook anymore and I don't have a web site.

How about posting it in Marketing Tactics?

And please don't put your name and book as a "signature" in your post. It's bookwhacking and not allowed.

If you don't know what bookwhacking is, you haven't read the rules.

Hello. I am looking for self-help, mind/body/spirit authors to collaborate on a new project. Is it okay to post this here? And, if so, where should I post it? Thanks.

I am also looking for beta readers for two new projects. Is it okay to post this here? And, if so, where should I post it? Thanks.

You should post asking for betas in the Writer's workshop folder, with enough detail to let people know what kind of book it is. Make a new topic for it there.

Hello, Can you please tell me where I find the 4 questions to answer when posting to the Introductions discussion.

They are in the first comment in the introduction discussion.

Sarah, no. It's always good form to read the rules of a group before joining.

A few days ago, I updated my first book with a new cover. (Never liked the old one) Will that eventually show up on Goodreads, or is there a way to force the site to import the new image?

TIA.

Rock wrote: "A few days ago, I updated my first book with a new cover. (Never liked the old one) Will that eventually show up on Goodreads, or is there a way to force the site to import the new image?

TIA."

Hi Rock, as far as I know you control that yourself. Whenever I update my books I simply upload the new cover in the edit book area.

Just deleted an obvious bot posted comment. Tomas, Dwayne, do we know if we can boot JettLeadbeater from the group?

Thanks, Eldon, but it failed.

Part of the page says I'm a librarian and should be careful what I do, but when I try to delete the cover image, I get this:

'Only librarians have permission to delete the cover for this book.'

Rock wrote: "Thanks, Eldon, but it failed.

Part of the page says I'm a librarian and should be careful what I do, but when I try to delete the cover image, I get this:

'Only librarians have permission to de..."

Don't try to delete the current cover. GR likes to allow people who purchased that version to still see the cover they bought. Just try to upload a new file.

Eldon wrote: "Just deleted an obvious bot posted comment. Tomas, Dwayne, do we know if we can boot JettLeadbeater from the group?"

Only the leader of a group can boot people, as far as I know.

As for covers, the GR approach is to add a new edition with the new cover, even if it still has the same ISBN/ASIN, and mark it as an alternate cover edition. And they're quite strict about it, as far as I know, they'd probably ask me to do an alternate edition if I asked them to update my cover which differs by a slight adjustment of contrast.

My mother's latest novel has just come out onto Amazon. How can I get ARC's or set them up?
It's a while since our last book so I have forgotten which group to post in and where it is permissible to.

Also, am I permitted to share the book in this group to get reviews?

Thanks for your help

Shoshanah

The rules for our group are posted. In short: No.

Shoshanah wrote: "My mother's latest novel has just come out onto Amazon. How can I get ARC's or set them up?
It's a while since our last book so I have forgotten which group to post in and where it is permissible ..."

Thanks, so where can I find marketing tips or ideas of where to get reviews?

Thanks for your help

Shoshanah

It would benefit you to familiarize yourself with a group before you join. You can discuss marketing in Support for Indie Authors. We don't ask for or even talk about reviews in either group.

Shoshanah wrote: "so where can I find marketing tips or ideas of where to get reviews? ..."

Hello Shoshanah. Since you give the impression of being new to this whole publishing thing, I thought I'd give you some friendly advice. Chasing reviews is the wrong way to go about it. And while GR is wonderful for interaction, asking for people to review your book on here will hurt you more than help you.

The reason that is true is the Amazon algorithm. You want Amazon to recommend your book to the right audience but if you muddy up your also boughts with readers who don't normally read your genre, then Amazon won't know who to recommend your book to.

As hard as it might be, forget about reviews. Focus on writing books your audience wants. Learn how to take advantage of ads to generate sales, and the reviews will take care of themselves :)

Eldon wrote: "Shoshanah wrote: "so where can I find marketing tips or ideas of where to get reviews? ..."

Hello Shoshanah. Since you give the impression of being new to this whole publishing thing, I thought I'..."
This is VERY good advice Eldon! :-) Perfect!

Eldon wrote: "Shoshanah wrote: "so where can I find marketing tips or ideas of where to get reviews? ..."

Hello Shoshanah. Since you give the impression of being new to this whole publishing thing, I thought I'..."

Thank you, that is very helpful.

When I brought out my book, I thought I had seen something here about getting reviews. Could be things have changed.

I am looking into placing ads on Amazon and FB, just finding it a bit daunting. Do you have any videos or articles to recommend to learn how to set the ad campaigns effectively?

Thank you for your help

I appreciate it

Shoshanah

Christine wrote: "Eldon wrote: "Shoshanah wrote: "so where can I find marketing tips or ideas of where to get reviews? ..."

Hello Shoshanah. Since you give the impression of being new to this whole publishing thing..."

Yes, I agree

Shoshanah wrote: "I am looking into placing ads on Amazon and FB, just finding it a bit daunting. Do you have any videos or articles to recommend to learn how to set the ad campaigns effectively?..."

Hi Shoshanah. FB and Amazon ads can be daunting for a beginner. Heck, they can be hard for a seasoned pro lol. While there might be some free resources out there, I'd take what they recommend with a grain of salt. You get what you pay for, right?

If you're serious about making a go of this then I'd recommend investing in a course to learn how to use the platforms properly. Mark Dawson is pretty much considered the gold standard out there. I'd personally recommend Matthew J holmes too. If you sign up for his daily newsletter you'll get a bunch of free actionable advice straight to your inbox!

When you're on FB look up the group Author Unleashed by Robert Ryan - he really knows his stuff!! Plus, the FB group 20Booksto50k is also full of lots of useful information.

Good luck!!

I'm unsure where to post the following. Could you advise?

I published a book a year ago (book 2 of a series) and I'm now unhappy with its title and want to change it. BTW, there are no changes to the manuscript. To do that, I know I need:
-to use a new ISBN;
-publish it as a new book - 2024
But what do I do with the old book? Do I remove it from Kdp in which case the records will show I never published a book in 2023?
There are copies at my local libraries, a copy went to the Library of Congress, and people from my database and others have already bought copies.
I suppose I'm looking for the best way to replace the book.
Thanks

Julia wrote: "Hello! I recently published a book and am trying to get the word out. Is there anyway I can offer a free ebook to the group?

Nope. No promotions here. That's not what the group is for.

Wanjiru wrote: "I'm unsure where to post the following. Could you advise?

I published a book a year ago (book 2 of a series) and I'm now unhappy with its title and want to change it. BTW, there are no changes to ..."

Personally, I think it's a terrible idea to change the name of an already published book. Do it if you must, but that's my personal opinion.

Response to Beth,

I deleted your comment, as it goes against a number of our rules. The bookshelf hasn't really been maintained lately. I should fix that. However, when we did maintain it, only moderators were allowed to add books and the books had to be written by other members of the group. Since you have just joined, you are not a moderator, and I do not believe your friend is a member of the group.

Just gonna chime in to say...changing the name of the book after publication, and sales, seems like a bad direction to me. I am sure there are reasons, but consider that all the marketing and attention it has already gotten will essentially be lost if the title changes, And those who have shown the most interest have already learned it as its original title.

It would take a lot for me to want to change the title of one of my own.

P. Pherson wrote: "Just gonna chime in to say...changing the name of the book after publication, and sales, seems like a bad direction to me. I am sure there are reasons, but consider that all the marketing and atten..."

I know I've already tossed my two and a half pennies at this, but reading your comment made me want to add something to the discussion. Many years ago I read this horror novel called "The Funhouse". It was cheesy and stupid and boring, etc. I thought it was one of the worst things I'd ever read. Some years later I picked up another book. The premise was more or less the same, and the title was the same, but it had a different author... so I thought. I bought it hoping it would be a much better book. It was the same novel! Turns out it's a novelization by Dean Koontz of a crappy Tobe Hopper film, which I've also seen and which also sucked. Koontz originally published it under the name Owen West. I wasted money on buying the same novel twice. I have been told Dean Koontz is actually a good author, but I won't buy any more of his books. I felt swindled.

Now, this is not saying your book is terrible, Wanjiru. I don't think I've ever read any of your work. But, even if it is good, and someone ends up buying it twice because of the title change, they might swear off your books forever. It's a possibility.

This is kind of the same feeling I get when Netflix decided to change all the pictures for the listed movies. The number of time I have clicked on Europa Report thinking it was a new movie only to find its the same one....aggravating.

Along those lines though...there are pirates who do this. Take a story, change the names, put it out as their own. So...if I saw this, I might think one was a pirate.